By E.S. BROWNING and ALEXANDRA SCAGGS

The Dow industrials' winning streak ended at 10 sessions, its best run since 1996, after a disappointing reading on consumer confidence sent stocks lower. But the blue chips remained solidly ahead for the week. Chris Dieterich reports. Photo: AP.

After a streak of 10 consecutive gains that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record, investors finally pushed the sell button.

Stocks declined just as another major benchmark, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, was about to join the Dow in record territory.

Pullbacks around market milestones are typical. Investors often use the occasion to re-evaluate the recent gains. They ask whether stocks can keep rising or are about to consolidate. With the two dominant market indexes at or near records, that thought process is under way.

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Associated Press

Specialist James Sciulli works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday as the DJIA snaps its winning streak at 10 sessions.

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"The market is taking a breather," said Patrick Kaser, a portfolio manager with Brandywine Global Investment Management, which oversees $42 billion. "This is pretty minor, to be down less than half a percent. I think it's encouraging."

Friday's pullback wasn't much. After surging 3.4% in the first 10 trading days of March, including the March 5 record, the Dow fell 25.03 points, or 0.17%, to 14514.11. It still is up 11% since the year began, which is all some analysts expected for the full year. It has risen in nine of the past 11 weeks.

Even with the decline, the Dow remains at its second-highest level in history, not counting inflation. Adjusting for inflation, it is still short of a record.

Although the day's move was modest, investor interest was high. Total trading was the year's highest, with overall volume of New York Stock Exchange stocks exceeding 4.9 billion shares. Nasdaq trading also was the highest of 2013.

The S&P 500 will be at a new record when it surpasses 1565.15. On Friday, it fell 2.51 points, or 0.16%, to 1560.72. That left it a minuscule 0.28% from its record, which it set as the financial crisis was warming up in October 2007.

As they question whether indexes have more gains in them, investors will be influenced by the fact that stocks have defied skeptics since before the election last year. Repeatedly, experts warned they had come too far, too fast, and repeatedly stocks broke higher.

With the Federal Reserve determined to continue stimulating the economy, economic growth has been stronger than the experts predicted and unemployment claims have been lighter.

Stocks were hobbled a bit on Friday by a soft reading on consumer confidence, but several analysts said recent consumer spending suggested that the economic impact of that confidence reading would be minor.

After all the year's advances, skeptical investors are worried, however, that the Dow and S&P 500 may already have realized most of their gains for the year. Some are predicting at least a temporary pullback. That is the debate that is likely to preoccupy analysts in the coming days.

The consumer-discretionary sector in the S&P 500 shed 0.4%, and the consumer-staples sector lost 0.5%. Among blue-chip retailers, Home Depot (HD) fell $1.19 to $69.05 and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) lost 72 cents, or 1%, 72.50.

J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) was the biggest loser in the Dow industrials, slipping 98 cents, or 1.9%, to 50.02 after the Fed late Thursday said that the bank would need to resubmit plans to send cash back to investors. Separately, a Senate panel criticized the bank for a lapse in risk oversight that led to more than $6 billion in derivatives-trading losses last year.

Meanwhile, Bank of America (BAC) posted the biggest gains among Dow components, rising 46 cents, or 3.8%, to 12.57 after it said the Fed approved its proposed capital plans.

European markets edged mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 easing 0.4% after closing at its highest level since June 2008 on Thursday, but gained 0.6% on the week.

Asian markets were mostly higher, led by a 1.5% rally in Japan's Nikkei Stock Average after the Japanese government raised its assessment on the country's economy for a third-straight month. The index advanced 2.3% on the week and is up 21% this year.

Crude-oil prices rose 0.5%, to $93.51 a barrel, while gold ticked up 0.1%, to $1,592.50 a troy ounce. The dollar slipped against the euro and yen. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to settle at 1.998% as prices rose.

In corporate news, Apple (AAPL) gained 11.16, or 2.6%, to 443.66 after analysts at Mizuho said the company should consider a large tender offer to return cash to shareholders.

Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance (ULTA) slumped 14.23, or 16%, to 74.14 after the beauty-products retailer's earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Aeropostale (ARO) dropped 76 cents, or 5.2%, to 13.75 after the youth-focused apparel retailer fell short of earnings and revenue estimates, and forecast a loss for the current quarter.

Write to Alexandra Scaggs at alexandra.scaggs@dowjones.com